Cross triathlete Penny Slater's winning run

By Vincent Smith-Koppie

13 June 2018 — 12:00am

Penny Slater is in such good form right now that she's losing track of all the different series she's leading in.

The 22-year-old cross triathlete from Wamboin was preparing for a race in the Philippines in April when she realised she was leading the Australian off road series and she had to enter the final race 10 days later to win the series.

Australian cross triathlon athlete Penny Slater. Credit:Jay Cronan

Without that realisation she likely wouldn't have entered the final race and been named the 2018 Australian Series Champion.

"I only got back on the Wednesday before the race on Sunday and then flew back from Canberra to Brisbane to do the race. I probably wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t figured out I was leading," Slater said.

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"Coming back from overseas I wasn’t really sure how I would go but I felt good when I got up there and it just went really well."

Cross triathlon athletes compete in an off-road race that forces them to compete with other athletes and mother nature in a swim (1km), mountain bike (30km) and trail run (10km).

"The courses can vary hugely depending on the terrain you’re riding on, especially on the mountain bike," Slater said.

"At a race at home in Australia usually the course is not too hilly and quite fast and flowing, while in a place like Tahiti where I raced the other week it is super hilly and it took at least 45 minutes longer than it does for a race here in Australia."

Despite her recent success, there's no time for Slater to rest on her laurels as she has prepares for a busy couple of months of competition.

She travels back to the Philippines for the final race of the Asia-Pacific Tour on June 17 where she just needs to place in the top two to win the series.

From there she travels to Denmark to defend her title at the ITU World Championships, which begin on July 6.

"I’ve never raced in this part of the Philippines before so I’m not really sure what this course is going to be like but I’m really looking forward to it," Slater said.

"I’m getting over there four days before the race so that’ll give me time to go out and ride the bike course and check everything out.

"Thankfully I suit the Philippines pretty well. I’ve always done well over there because it’s really hot and usually the courses are pretty tough and long, which suits my riding and racing style.

"It’ll be a little bit frantic getting organised so I can then get across to Europe and get organised before Denmark.

"I’ve never raced [in Europe] but I’ve been told the courses vary greatly. They’re very hilly from what I’ve heard and some of the races are very technical and very long.

“Some races in Australia only take two and a half hours whereas over there you’re probably looking at three and a half hours for a race that’s the same distance."

Slater is staying in Europe after the World Championships to take part in the European racing series, an opportunity to regularly race against the world's best.

"The biggest competition in the world is in Europe. That’s where all the girls who are at the pointy end of the world rankings are racing so it’s going to be really good to race against them and see where I am at," Slater said.

Then in October Slater heads to Hawaii for the Xterra World Championships.

The race in Maui is considered the pinnacle of the sport and is the ultimate test of a cross triathlete's strength and ability.

"Hawaii is just so brutal, you just get straight out of the water and you go uphill on quite a steep gradient for over an hour, you do over 1600 metres of climbing in the first hour," Slater said.

"The heat is pretty unbearable at times and the pace of the race is so high because the best in the world are there.

"I came 11th last year and this year I’d really love to get top five.

"I’ve done a lot more races this year and I think I’ve gained a lot more experience with how the races play out and how tactics come into play in a race and overall I’m a lot fitter this year."